Pieces of Me
by theoncomingfandom
Summary: While Killian is helping Emma settle into her new apartment and unpack he stumbles across a box filled with her most precious things: a baby blanket, a birthday car from one of her foster mothers, a vile of sand, a ticket stub and much more. So Emma decides to tell him of the adventures she had before they became adventures of the fairytale variety. CS Fluff ahead.


**A/N**: I have a mighty need for more backstory on Emma's life in the foster system and growing up and what not. So I wrote this.

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When Emma had decided to stay in Storybrooke, no one was happier than her son . And apparently Henry had been doing his research for their new living quarters. She knew he had been looking for apartments but she had no idea how extensive that research was. One morning Henry had handed her the ad in the paper that was circled in red pen and firmly said, "This is it. This place is perfect" . And it truly was perfect for their little family.

It was a little apartment a block away from the docks that had a stunning view of the harbor from the large bay window in the living room. It had a wonderful open floor plan that led into a great kitchen with an island and lots of cooking space. She gave her son a curious look when she noticed it had three bedrooms instead of two. He just shrugged and said far too casually, "It's in case we have guests that need a place to stay... or something." Emma just rolled her eyes and thought that her son was becoming far too perceptive for her liking, but couldn't help the warm tug of pride as she nudged his shoulder and went off to look at the rest of the apartment.

A bathroom that between Henry's room and the guest room, each of which were fairly decent in size and each provided a view of the ocean from their windows. In Emma's room there was a gorgeous ensuite with a double vanity and a walk in closet that damn near rivaled the amazing closet at her apartment in New York. But what really sealed the deal for Emma was the overwhelming feeling of _home_ . She loved it and knew it was a place where she could live and be a family with her son and her parents. '_And maybe even Killian_,' her mind threw in before she could stop it.

A few days later Emma proudly had the keys to her new apartment in her hand and had enlisted Killian's help to move her things from New York to Storybrooke for good.

It had been a few days since all their furniture and items had been brought to the apartment and Emma and Henry struggled to unpack everything to make the space livable. The place was a complete mess with boxes stacked in every corner of every room as they tried to sort through it all.

Killian had volunteered to assist her and Henry settle into their new home as well. The entire time he'd helped her unpack he was barely able to hide the smile on his face at the fact that she was finally planting some roots in the town she had so adamantly vowed she would leave. He helped do some of the heavy lifting and used his hook to slice through the packing tape with gusto, while Emma grumbled at him from across the room about '_using any excuse to use that thing_.' "I _swear_ if you break anything..." Emma threatened, but it fell flat when she saw the smile on Killian's face and heard him chuckle.

Emma was in her closet hanging up her clothes, attempting to get at least _one_ part of the apartment sorted and finished, when she heard Killian ask from her bedroom, "Where would you like these things to go, love?"

She turned and saw that he had taken the lid off of the box with her old keepsakes and were looking down at them curiously. He gently picked up the soft white baby blanket in his hand. His thumb ran lightly over the purple ribbon that spelled her name. "Was this yours when you were young?" he asked with interest shining in his sea blue eyes.

Emma smiled gently and plucked it from his hand. She protectively clutched it to her chest and nodded. "For a long time it was all I had of my parents. I was wrapped in this when I was sent through the wardrobe in the Enchanted Forrest after I was born," Emma told him with a soft smile and Killian grinned back.

He turned back to the box and looked at the other odd artifacts inside. "And what are the rest of these things?" he asked.

Emma placed the blanket down on the bed as she sat down beside the box. She gave a little shrug and said, "It's just some things that I've kept over the years. Things that meant something to me or I picked up in my travels over the years."

Unpacking seemed to be forgotten for the moment as Killian looked up at Emma. "May I?" he said, asking her permission before rifling through her private things. Emma bit her lip shyly for a moment, but nodded, knowing she had nothing to hide from him. Regardless, Emma knew no matter what he'd find he would never pass judgment or think any less of her. Killian sifted through the items in the box and pulled a birthday card from the pile. "What is the significance of this?" he asked as he looked it over.

He opened it up and read the touching, heartfelt note inside. Emma explained that it was a birthday card from one of her foster mothers from when she was young. Killian asked Emma what made her want to keep that card. And she explained that Mrs. Scanlin was a wonderful woman that genuinely cared for each of the children that passed through her home and made sure to remind each of them every day how special they were. "She was the first person that I can remember made me feel truly loved. And I really loved her. She was the closest thing I had to a mother when I was young. She was great. I really miss her sometimes," Emma said with a quiet sadness.

"What happened? Why did you have to leave her home?" Killian asked.

"They found out she was really sick. Cancer, I think," Emma said with a sad sigh. "She wasn't fit to take care of kids anymore and they couldn't afford it with her doctor's bills so me and all the other kids were moved. I had heard she died a few months after we left."

"I'm so sorry, love," Killian said with genuine sorrow, taking her hand in his and pressing a light kiss to her knuckles. She gave him a grateful smile at his show of concern.

He pulled a small glass vile filled with sand from the box. Killian posed the question with mere smile and the raise of a brow. Emma plucked it from his hand and turned it over in hers as she looked at it with a smile. "I collected this when I was nine. It was the first time I had ever been to the ocean. I was living in a town a few hours from the coast and we had taken a day trip down to the beach. I remember standing on the shore with my toes in the sand, water up to my knees and thinking how _big_ and _beautiful_ it was. I felt so small standing there on the shore line. I just wanted the water to come and take me away to some far off place," Emma said, her eyes staring unseeingly, her mind clearly on that beach a long time ago. She blinked and she looked at Killian, her smile almost shy as she looked at him.

But he grinned at her and said, "I remember feeling the same way the first time I looked at the sea. She is a terrifying but beautiful beast, capable of making any man or woman feel insignificant against her power."

The two carried on like this for some time. Killian would wordlessly pull an item from the box and Emma would explain the tale behind each artifact. He'd plucked a ticket stub from the box and stared curiously at it. Emma went on to explain about her first concert experience and how she almost left it with a black eye because she had inadvertently been shoved into the mosh pit. Which then resulted in a whole slew of questions from Killian regarding the nature of these concerts and how '_such acts of aggression could be considered fun entertainment for a young lady_'. Emma shrugged and merely said, "It was the 90s. I was a rebellious teenager going through a grunge phase." She ignored Killian's confused look and pointed a finger at him and grinned. "We need to figure out what kind of music you like and then I'm taking _you _to a concert so you can understand how fun they really are," she promised with a grin.

As the game continued, Emma and Killian found themselves lying back against her soft mattress as he listened to Emma speak, learning more about her past and the adventures she went on before they became adventures of the fairytale variety. He'd blindly reach into the box and pull out whatever his hand came into contact with first.

"It's a friendship bracelet," Emma explained as he looked at the tattered and torn multi colored piece of thread in his hand. "When I was a kid you'd make one for your best friend and you'd both wear them until they eventually fell off. I got this from a girl named Sarah. We went to school together in Seattle. She was my first best friend. But then I had to move again before the next school year started and I never saw her again. I wonder whatever happened to her..." Emma said, her voice trailing off thoughtfully.

Killian picked up a photo and looked at it in interest. Emma laughed softly as she looked at the pictures she had gotten from a photo booth at the mall. She was no more than thirteen or fourteen in the photos, looking every bit like the awkward teenager she was. "That's me and one of my friends. His name's Derek. He was a lot of fun," Emma said as she grinned looking at the line of goofy photos of the two of them. Killian's eyes narrowed slightly and his lips pursed in thought as he looked at the photo of the boy pressing a kiss to a teenage Emma's pink cheek. Killian was clearly trying to assess who this young man was to Emma and she just rolled her eyes, but decided to prolong his curiosity. "I had the biggest crush on him when I met him. I mean I was thirteen and he was gorgeous." She saw the flicker of irritation in Killian's eyes and Emma fought down the giggle at his blatant jealousy. "But it turned out I wasn't his type," Emma said. She grinned when she added. "I actually heard he got married a few years ago. Saw some pictures online. It looks like he and his husband are quite happy together."

She watched as confusion passed over Killian's face as he caught her words. He looked at her amused expression but then realization dawned on him and he let out a surprised, "_Ohh!_" Emma could no longer contain her laughter and she rolled over into his side and gave him a gentle squeeze around his waist while she giggled into his shoulder. "Well, I suppose that's... good for him then," Killian said with a somewhat awkward chuckle.

"Yes, it is," Emma replied and pressed a kiss to his lips as an apology for teasing him.

She went on to tell him about her visit to the Californian coast and her failed attempts at learning how to surf when he held up the little trinket that looked like a surf board propped up against a palm tree. Killian turned a poker chip over in his hand and Emma told him of her time in Las Vegas and with a grimace explained why she is banned from the casinos in the city. "Apparently using my little super power at the poker tables is frowned upon. Especially when it's against a professional poker champion," she said with a laugh.

When he lifted the old shoelace she used to wear around her wrist from the box Emma's smile dropped from her face as she felt a pang of grief. At Emma's mood change, Killian went to put it aside to find something that held a happier memory, but Emma grabbed his wrist and gave him a reassuring smile. She took a deep breath to steel herself against the sadness and told Killian about Graham. She told him about how he had died in her arms and knew Regina was to blame, but it wasn't until after the curse was broken and she finally believed in magic that she realized what Regina had really done to him. "I didn't love him," Emma told Killian. "I was still too guarded back then to let anyone in. But I think I could have, if we had been given more time," she said as she thought of Graham. "But regardless, he was a good man and a good friend and he didn't deserve to die like that. I think that's why I kept this," she said with a sad smile. "To remind myself to be a fair and kind sheriff like he was." When she looked up at Killian his eyes were filled with sympathy. He didn't say anything-he didn't have to because she could read the sorrow in his eyes- and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before exploring the box once more.

They sorted through the various postcards Emma had collected during her travels around the United States. She told him of the Grand Canyon and how the towering red cliffs looked as the sun set across the horizon. She did her best to convey the enormous size of the Redwoods in the Oregon forests and how freaking _green_ everything is in that part of the country.

"Even more so than the Enchanted Forrest?" Killian questioned skeptically.

"_Yes_," Emma replied firmly.

He held up a postcard of the Statue of Liberty and studied it with a faint smile. "This is in New York," Killian said somewhat proudly at recognizing the figure. "I remember seeing her when I first came to find you. She is obviously important. What does she mean?" he asked, the wonders of the world still baffling him, but sparking his interest all the same. So Emma went on to explain the significance of Lady Liberty and how she had become a beacon of hope for incoming immigrants centuries ago.

She shrugged sheepishly and said with a laugh, "This is all stuff I learned at school _ages_ ago, so I'm only tell you the basic stuff I can remember. I'm sure Henry would love to tell you more about it. He's got books and all kinds of stuff on Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty."

"I'll be sure to ask the lad. It sounds all very interesting," Killian replied with a smile, and Emma had no doubt he probably would.

When Killian's hand finally scraped the bottom of the box and came out empty, he gave a sigh. "It appears we've come to the end of our trip down memory lane," he said, sounding almost disappointed. "This has been a very informative afternoon," Killian said softly as he looked around at all the things that were previously in the box now spread out around them on Emma's bed like some kind of haphazard timeline of Emma's life. "I've enjoyed learning more about you and your childhood, Emma."

Emma wrinkled her nose and shook her head, but could feel a blush rising in her cheeks. "Honestly, I'm not that interesting. It's all a bunch of useless junk, I know," Emma said gesturing to the items as she began to pick them up and put them back in the box to store it away at the back of her closet, never to be touched again, like it had been for the past year in New York and all the years before.

"It's not _junk_, love," Killian insisted, grabbing her wrist as she went to drop the vile of sand into the bottom of the box. "They're talismans," he said turning her hand over to look at the item in her palm. "They're items to remind you of happy days and of the people you once kept close to your heart, even amidst the darkness in your life."

Emma smiled, taking Killian's hand in hers, running her thumb lightly over the silver rings on his fingers. "What about you? We spent all afternoon with you going through my stuff learning all about me and now I feel like I know very little about you. Have you got a box somewhere filled with _talismans_ from your past? Surely those stories are much more interesting than mine. I mean you _are_ over three hundred years old," Emma said.

Killian chuckled. "No, I don't have anything like that. I prefer to keep the things precious to me close at hand," he said reaching up and giving her a light tap on the nose with his finger. Emma ducked her head shyly as she tried to busy herself with returning her things to the box, but she knew the flush was spreading all the way down to her toes at his unspoken words. "But I'm an open book, love," Killian went on. Emma looked up at him and he gave her a gentle smile. "Anything you wish to know, all you have to do is ask."

"Oh yeah?" Emma asked. She reached out and rested her hand on his chest feeling his heart beat strongly beneath her palm, but then wrapped her hand around the pendants hanging from the silver chain. She gently tugged him forward and pressed her lips to his, as a way to say _'Thank you for listening to me. Thank you for caring enough to want to know. And thank you for loving me, _all_ of me, scars and all'_. She pressed one last kiss to his mouth before she pulled away and looked into his captivating eyes. "So tell me, Captain. What's the story behind these?" Emma murmured, idly fiddling with the charms around his neck.

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**A/N**: Reviews are much appreciated! Thanks for reading.


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